Asking For A Friend 2025 - Week 2

How Did We Get So Many Christian Denominations?

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Asking for a friend is a booklet series based on sermons preached at UBC. After Easter, our Elders thought it best to preach two sermons that aim to answer a hard to ask difficult question.  These messages then are revised into booklets and made available to our congregation and guests. This week, the sermon aimed to answer the question “How Did We Get So Many Denominations?”

LAUNCHING QUESTION

After gathering together on Sunday morning, in what ways were we edified “to help others become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ who know Him and make Him known?”    

(Leaders: help your people explore how worshipping, fellowshipping, and hearing the Word preached relates to UBC’s mission statement)

The message was organized in three parts.

  1. What is a denomination? 

  • Pastor Jason’s definition: an official actual branch of Christianity.

  • How does a denomination differ from religions or cults? What’s the importance of knowing these distinctions?

  • Essentials of Christianity are found in the Nicene Creed. Have someone in your Growth Group pull up the Nicene Creed on their phone and read aloud the creed. Simply make the point that a Christian denomination is a branch of Christianity that affirms the Nicene Creed.

2. Where did Christian denominations come from? 

  • Pastor Jason gave us a good overview of denominations by noticing the Great Schism 1054 AD , The Protestant Reformation 1500’s, and listing 7 factors of the 45,000 world wide denominations of today.  Take 5-10 minutes to share a few insights from your notes. 

  • How will the overview help you understand your personal upbringing and background

  • How might the overview help you when discussing the sermon’s question with another churched or unchurched friend? 

  • Those who want to drill into the question go to usefulcharts.com. Click on the video titled History of Christianity. 

3. Why are denominations good & bad?

Talk first about some good reasons for denominations. Let your group share thoughts and then read 1 Corinthians 11:18-19.

  • When have you seen God separate authentic believers from imposters? How can this exposure strengthen our witness as a church and your faith as an individual? 

  • The second reason denominations are good centers on Theological Triage. What were the three levels of “theological triage” and what were some examples on each level? 

    • (Notes for GG leader(s): 

  • 1st level: Primary - answers the question, “am I a true believer? - things like the Trinity, the deity and humanity of Jesus, his substitutionary death for our forgiveness, his triumphant vindication in bodily resurrection, justification by faith, authority of Scripture. 

  • 2nd level: Secondary - answers the question, “is this the church I will freely worship in?” - things  like church government, the role of women in ministry, the nature of the sacraments, understanding New Covenant life.

  • 3rd level: Tertiary - answers the question, “what are my personal preferences?  things like - the millennium, hermeneutics, music or  worship styles)

  • How should our conversations with one another help us in…

    • 1) preserving unity

    • 2) strengthening focus on primary essentials

    • 3) forging our fellowship with each other in our church

    • 4)  promoting love and acceptance

    • 5) training us in humility

  • What are some bad reasons for denominations? 

    • How can focusing on human teachers and developing inner circles create friction and division in our church? (1 Cor. 3:5-7). 

    • When we promote cliques and divisions in our relationships and ministries, what are some problems you might see in our witness to the world? (cf. John 13:35; 17:20-23).   


How does the sermon apply to each of us? 

  1. Don’t argue about differences in front of the unchurched. Where might we be tempted to disregard this exhortation?  What disciplines might be of help in guarding us from this particular temptation? 

  2. Beware of cults but don’t label them carelessly.  What was behind this exhortation? What will it look like as we take to heart the exhortation?  

  3. Resolve to love Jesus’ church in all its denominational forms. How might obedience to this exhortation manifest when meeting other Christians from different churches? 

  4. Do triage then gladly commit to a like-minded church. What are some changes (in attitudes and actions) might we undergo as we move intentionally to “gladly commit to UBC”?


LANDING QUESTION

After our time together as a Growth Group, in what ways are we now edified “to help others become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ who know Him and make Him known?”     

(Leaders: The landing question is designed to help our people  experience the joy of community conversations and notice their shaping influence on our lives. That is, when Christians - having the same mind as Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5) - come together to talk and listen to each other, there is a mysterious and lasting influence on how we view and do life.)